A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka Marina Lewycka A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Author: - Return to top of the page - Our Assessment: The NY Times Book Rev. . Most liked it, some very much -- and many even found it funny ! From the Reviews: "Lots more happens but the plot is really a vehicle for social satire, some good jokes and an overdose of slapstick. It adds up to a clever, touching story." - Jessica Mann, Daily Telegraph "(U)proariously funny (...) The author's imaginary world lets her explore the sort of problems that other east European émigrés in Britain often fear but seldom confront: chiefly, what to do with people we are supposed to like but don't trust or understand. Her dialogue, conducted between educated people who lack a common language, is a comic feast." - The Economist "Not-so-hilarious complications ensue, many of them familiar to anyone who's witnessed the ravages of age.

"There's no fool like an old fool'" appears to be the theme here, but Lewycka skillfully teases out a more complex story, underpinned by Ukraine's horrors under Stalin and Hitler." - Bella Stander, Entertainment Weekly "The rhythm and dynamics of this debut novel are well managed and Lewycka succeeds in creating many comic situations. But the novel is not so much written as constructed, and the same can be said of the characters. Just about everyone portrayed in it inspires the sympathy of the reader except the Ukrainians, legal and illegal. What we see are caricatures. (...) Reading this novel gave me the impression that I had read a school textbook on Ukrainian history with one eye on an episode of Coronation Street." - Andrey Kurkov, The Guardian "In die oft auflachend komischen Kapitel, die in der Gegenwart spielen, hat Marina Lewycka Passagen montiert, in denen die ukrainische Vorgeschichte der jetzt so gediegen britisch gewordenen Familie eingeholt wird.

Die Absicht ist klar, sie will die Ressentiments, die nicht ganz zu Unrecht gegen die berechnende neue Einwanderin und Erbschleicherin gehegt werden, entlarven, indem sie an all die Verh�ngnisse und Schwierigkeiten erinnert, mit denen vor f�nfzig Jahren auch die andere, jetzt so honorable Einwandererfamilie hatte k�mpfen m�ssen." - Karl-Markus Gauss, Neue Z&uumlrcher Zeitung "Lewycka is an awkward stylist, but the irony of Nadezhda's conversion is too obvious to miss." - Boris Fishman, The New York Times Book Review "In the midst of these machinations -- which include long-winded letters to solicitors, venomous gossip, and all-out spying -- Lewycka stealthily reveals how the depredations of the past century dictate what a family can bear." - The New Yorker "Despite its title, A Short History of Tractors in Ukraine is at heart a romance: the story of the hilarious, savage and even occasionally tender love between Nikolai, an octogenarian and rather smelly tractor expert, and Valentina, an a

varicious 36-year-old blonde from Kiev." - Charlotte Hobson, The Spectator "Some of the cleverness of these dual texts (not to mention the family story of the war that Nadia is too young to know) remains hidden, blossoming toward the novel's resolution.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is an admirable first work. Lewycka has the tic, however, of inserting parenthetical asides that exhibit her narrator's reactions to other characters' dialogue, as if she doesn't trust that we know our narrator. Despite this, and despite tendencies toward the cute and chatty (...), this is an ambitious book that boils over with effortless joy and wisdom." - Joel Whitney, San Francisco Chronicle "Lewycka's hugely enjoyable and needling book is a marvellous dissection of the eastern European immigrant experience. This novel of ruts and progress, ease and horror, assumption and suspicion, yields a golden harvest of family truths." - Helen Brown, Sunday Telegraph "Marina Lewycka�s authorial voice is pragmatic but never indulgent. Greedy Valentina is seen as a victim as much as a predator, Nikolai as needy as well as deranged. In his history of tractors, he describes how these peaceful machines are easily transformed into tanks.

This lovely novel leaves you with the wistful belief that, if the world could only be governed by real grown-ups, tanks could, just as easily, be turned back into tractors." - Penny Perrick, Sunday Times "What makes this book more than just a jolly romp with political undertones is the way it captures the peculiar flavour of Eastern European immigrant life in the postwar years, and after." - Christa Koning, The Times "The novel seems also to be in conflict with itself. The slick contemporary comedy of manners is only a thin veneer over the heavier body of a painful family history. (...) (T)he joke is sad enough, the writing buoyant and the plotting neat. (...) Profundity would have needed deeper characterization, although perhaps we are meant to find it genuinely problematic that human characters are, as presented here, only bundles of experiences, with lives often best -- but too often -- expressed as lists.

Profundity would also require a more satisfactory way of bridging the gap between contemporary, authority-dodging slapstick and the distressing history of the main characters' homeland in the last short century." - Lesley Chamberlain, Times Literary Supplement "Like a reverse tale of colonization, booby-wife accumulates all the necessary Western loot (Hoover vacuum, Rolls -Royce, even bigger breasts) while the sisters watch in a state of ideological crisis. Their family problems become a cheery parody of the country's political dysfunctions." - Rachel Aviv, The Village Voice "(C)harming, poignantly funny" - Susan Adams, The Washington Post "Ein wunderbar kluges Buch. Und die Moral von der Geschicht: Jede Dummheit bedarf der Freiheit, sie zu begehen." - Kerstin Strecker, Die Welt Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole.

We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure. - Return to top of the page - The complete review 's Review: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is narrated by Nadezhda, a university lecturer approaching fifty, and focusses on the family misadventures that ensue when her recently widowed father falls in love -- at the age of eighty-four ! -- with a Ukrainian divorcée who is almost half a century younger than him. Part of the appeal is that she is Ukrainian, a country that he fled during World War II. And there's the matter of her breasts, which he is also quite taken by. The hussy, Valentina, needs a visa in order to be able to remain in Britain. Getting married would be a convenient way of obtaining one, and Nikolai Mayevsky is amenable to the idea. He understands that she may not feel quite the same way about him as he does about her, but he sees it as an opportunity -- for companionship, for one thing -- and enjoys deluding himself that this might turn out well.

Nadezhda is concerned, but leaves Pappa to his own devices until it's quite too late. These events do, however, get her talking with her sister, Vera, again, after a dispute over their inheritance from their mother had widened an already large rift seemingly beyond repair. So a comedy less of errors than of ugliness unfolds: Valentina marries the old coot, but has rather different expectations of Western life than he can provide for. Besides not being virile (for which she is presumably thankful), he doesn't have much disposable income or savings. He's willing to spend it on her, but there's not enough to really make it worthwhile: yes, they buy a cheap Rolls Royce for a few hundred pounds, but it's almost beyond repair -- and the old man is certainly beyond repairing it, despite his engineer-background. Valentina holds a couple of jobs, but she's obviously used to having domestic help: she can't cook, and the house is soon a big mess. And she is not in the least a nice person (though she can turn on the charm when need be) and is abusive to the old man.

The sisters plot to get dad out of this situation, writing to the Home Office to try to get her deported, then helping their father get a divorce. Vera, ten years older, is the tougher one, making fun of liberal Nadezhda, but the younger sister is soon on board with doing whatever needs be done to separate their father from the tramp. The old guy putters about fairly helplessly, not quite sure what he wants (the bitch Valentina, for all her abuse, is still a warm body in the same house, while his daughters live at a distance), his interests pretty much reduced to: "tractors and boobs". Yes, that's his one big project, writing: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, passages from which are interspersed throughout the novel. The novel is a family-story, of two very different daughters dealing with the loss of their mother and their father in his very old age. For Nadezhda it is also a story of discovery, as she learns more about her parents (and her sister).

It also contrasts the immigrant experience then and now: Valentina's desperation is of a completely different sort (and order) than the Mayevskys' -- indeed, when asked whether life in Ukraine was better under communism she has no doubts (or qualms): "Of course better. Was good life. You no understand what type of people is rule country now." As the old man explains, what separates him and his younger bride is a specific kind of generation conflict: "Clearly this Valentina, she is of quite a different generation. She knows nothing of history., even less about the recent past." Though much is made of this here (especially in contrast to the lost mother, a remarkable hoarder essentially defined by history), but not enough. Much as the tractor-history is under-utilized -- presented for a bit of colour and variation, but not nearly as tied into the story as it could have been. Instead, the novel goes on and on about the petty domestic squabbles between the various actors and the tricks they all pull. It gets very tired, very fast, despite Lewycka's decent writing (and the humour of some of the situations, though the prevailing ugliness pretty much drowns that out).

A major problem with the novel is that of the voice: Nadezhda narrates the story, but much of what she recounts is episodes where she was not present. Apparently, she re-imagines them from her father's accounts -- but he is presented as, if not completely doddering so certainly extremely manipulative and selective in the information he conveys. So what is to be believed ? Disappointingly, Valentina also remains too little understood. She is presented as an unbelievably awful person, but she seems hard-working in certain spheres (holding down more than one job, despite the fact that she seems incapable of doing anything around the house). She also has any number of men doting on her, and while her augmented breasts may make for an initial appeal, from the descriptions of her it's hard to believe anybody would put up with this bitch for any amount of time. Bizarrely, too, once Valentina leaves their father's life they don't simply celebrate and say good riddance and instead seek her out (and even show some sympathy -- leading Valentina to complain (echoing what many readers probably think by that point): "Why you go pocking nose in every place ? Eh ?").

It's unclear how much can be attributed to the unreliability of the narrator -- who, for example, voices little guilt over what to an outsider must appear as callous indifference to her father's fate: she voices concern that Valentina may not be right for him, but it takes her a long time to actually do much about it (and it apparently only occurs to her very late on that her father might be lonely). Much of this rings vaguely true -- the selfish, bickering kids who have to deal with an aging parent whom they don't really have time for, the refugee who is willing to mess up the life of everyone who gets in her way in her desperation to get what she wants, etc. -- but it's both ugly and simplistic. There's little character development (Nadezhda's daughter and nieces are barely shadows, and her husband little better than a prop), but lots of description -- most of which is to too little purpose. The historical parts, both family- and tractor-history -- are more intriguing but woefully tied into the narrative. There are comic elements and at least Nadezhda remains fairly upbeat, no matter how horrific things get, but that's far from enough to redeem the novel.

Occasionally, there are some nice touches, but most of the eureka-moments are too forced. Unsure of quite what it wants to be -- an ugly little tale of aging and dependence, or a more ambitious look at the émigré-experience -- A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is an occasionally amusing but overall very unpleasant novel. - Return to top of the page - Marina Lewycka - A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - | BookPage A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Plowing the field of family conflict BookPage review by Emily Zibart Don't let the title of Marina Lewycka's A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian deceive you rather than an account of the development of farm equipment, it is a debut novel centered on the dilemma two estranged sisters face when their elderly Å½migrÅ½ father falls in love with a gold-digging Ukrainian bombshell. However, tractor enthusiasts need not despair embedded in the novel is the father's magnum opus, after which the book is named.

The author, who herself was born to Ukrainian parents in a refugee camp and grew up in England, vividly depicts the life of Nadezhda, a sociology professor (thought by her entire family to be a social worker) whose 84-year-old father plans to marry the buxom 36-year-old Valentina in order to save her from a miserable life in the old country. When Nadezhda's na•ve hopes that the marriage will bring her father happiness in his old age are dashed, she and her sister Vera (with whom she has not spoken since their mother's death two years before) join forces to separate the unhappy couple. In doing so, they must scheme to send Valentina and her son back to the Ukraine while fending off their father's pleas for money to support Valentina's automobile addiction and his lecherous comments about the "superiority" of her figure. Lewycka brings humor to the struggles of immigration and the difficulties inherent in the shift between the communist and capitalist ways of life, while maintaining gravity in her description of Nadezhda's family's escape to England.

The lingual and cultural differences between the Ukraine and England provide many laughs, and Valentina, whose obsession with material possessions seems to be only an exaggeration of the materialism that has long existed in the West, is a villain the reader loves to hate. A quick, light story with flamboyant characters and a unique cultural framework, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is a good choice for any reader who enjoys tales of family drama. Emily Zibart writes from New York City. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: Marina Lewycka: 9780143036746: Amazon.com: Books A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details Buy the selected items together This item:A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka Paperback $13.70 In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka Paperback $10.61 Only 12 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Details Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Page 1 of 1 Start over Sponsored Products are advertisements for products sold by merchants on Amazon.com. When you click on a Sponsored Product ad, you will be taken to an Amazon detail page where you can learn more about the product and purchase it. To learn more about Amazon Sponsored Products, click here . Betrayal Tim Tigner Betrayal -- because it's oh so satisfying to see corrupt politicians get what they deserve. "Simply put, the best book I've read in years!" Pushing Brilliance (Kyle Achilles Book 1) Tim Tigner They came for us through clever means, the Russians with their secret weapons. "Tigner's style is so taut, you can feel the squeeze." Flash Tim Tigner They lost everything in a flash, but found each other.

It's "The Bourne Identity meets The Firm" in a clever thriller that's "Impossible to put down!" Ad feedback Special Offers and Product Promotions Editorial Reviews From Publishers Weekly The premise of Lewycka's debut novel is classic Viagra comedy: a middle-aged professor's aging and widowed father announces he intends to marry a blonde, big-breasted 30-something woman he has met at the local Ukrainian Social Club in the English town where he lives, north of London. It is clear to Nadezhda and her sister, Vera, that the femme fatale Valentina is only after Western luxuries—certainly not genuine love of any kind. Smitten with the ambitious hussy, their father forges ahead to help Valentina settle in England, spending what little pension he has buying her cars and household appliances and even financing her cosmetic surgery. In the meantime, Nadezhda, a socialist, and Vera, a proud capitalist, confront the longstanding ill will between them as they try to save their father from his folly. Predictable and sometimes repetitive hilarity ensues. But then Lewycka's comic narrative changes tone.

Nadezhda, who has never known much about her parents' history, pieces it together with her sister and learns that there is more to her cartoonish father than she once believed. "I had thought this story was going to be a knockabout farce, but now I see it is developing into a knockabout tragedy," Nadezhda says at one point, and though she is referring to Valentina, she might also be describing this unusual and poignant novel. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From The New Yorker In this comic first novel, two estranged sisters living in England discover that their addled elderly father, a Ukrainian war refugee and expert on tractors, is planning to marry a young, enormous-breasted woman who sees his modest pension as her ticket to capitalist comfort. The sisters put aside their differences, and embark on a spirited campaign to save him from boil-in-the-bag dinners, slovenly housekeeping, and such extravagant purchases as a broken-down Rolls-Royce.

In the midst of these machinations—which include long-winded letters to solicitors, venomous gossip, and all-out spying—Lewycka stealthily reveals how the depredations of the past century dictate what a family can bear. Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . New York Times best sellers Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more. See more Product Details Publisher: Penguin Books (March 28, 2006) Language: English Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces ( View shipping rates and policies ) Average Customer Review: VINE VOICE on March 25, 2005 Format: Hardcover I picked up Marina Lewycka's "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" almost by accident. The title attracted my attention so I picked it up and began reading. After reading the first three sentences, I was sold. They are: "Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee.

He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside." The concern I have with books that begin so well is the difficulty the remainder has in living up to such promise. I am happy to report that Ukrainian Tractors lived up to the promise of its opening paragraph. The opening sentences sum up the story. Nikolai, his wife and two children Vera and Nadezhda (Nadia) were Ukrainian refugees who, at the conclusion of the Second World War make their way to Peterborough, England. Vera was born before the war and has memories of the families' travails in German work camps. She is the "war baby." Vera is the basic domineering know-it-all older sister. Nadia is the peace baby, a liberal sociology lecturer with a penchant for buying her clothes used at the local Oxfam (charity outlet). Nadia and Vera have not talked since their mother's funeral. Nikolai picks up he phone one day and announces to Nadia that he is about to take a new bride.

Valentina is a young, buxom bottle-blonde Ukrainian whose U.K. residency visa is about to expire. As expected, Vera and Nadia call a truce in order to prevent the marriage and protect their father from a fate they consider worse than death. Read more › Two Caravans – Marina Lewycka | The List Two Caravans (Fig Tree) COMIC TALE Newcomers will quickly appreciate the talent for voice, character, humour and honesty that earned Marina Lewycka such plaudits for her debut novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. The two caravans of the title make up the male and female accommodation of largely East European strawberry pickers in Kent and within a few pages the reader has been sparingly but categorically introduced to a cast of 11 colourful characters, each with their own contrary traits and allegiances. These players are represented with commendable empathy and in a variety of written styles, and as their stories branch out, roam and converge they encounter a host of appalling working conditions and despicable gangsters, all underpinned by a slow-burning romance.

Ultimately the real trick that Lewycka pulls off is to draw attention to the struggles that legal and illegal immigrants to the UK face in the most upbeat, human and often humorous way without ever descending into farce or lecture. Marina Lewycka | Articles | The List Marina Lewycka Hitlist - the best Festival book events 16 Aug 2007 Alan Warner One of our finest scribes takes part in a pair of events this Festival, one on his own in association with The List while the other has him hanging out with another totemic figure of Scottish letters, Janice Galloway. 17 Aug, 8.30pm, £8… Marina Lewycka 16 Aug 2007 Marina Lewycka’s debut A History of Tractors in Ukrainian won over hearts and minds with a witty and largely autobiographical tale of a long settled immigrant family clashing over the encroaching senility of its obsessive and stubbornly romantic head.

26 Mar 2007 Marina Lewycka COMIC TALE Newcomers will quickly appreciate the talent for voice, character, humour and honesty that earned Marina Lewycka such plaudits for her debut novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. The two caravans of the title make up the male and… A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: Amazon.co.uk: Marina Lewycka: 9780241961827: Books A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Add all three to Basket One of these items is dispatched sooner than the other. Show details Buy the selected items together This item:A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka Paperback Â£8.99 In stock. Sent from and sold by Amazon. FREE Delivery on orders over Â£10. Details Various Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka Paperback Â£8.99 In stock. Sent from and sold by Amazon. FREE Delivery on orders over Â£10. Details We Are All Made of Glue by Marina Lewycka Paperback Â£8.99 Only 10 left in stock (more on the way). Sent from and sold by Amazon.

FREE Delivery on orders over Â£10. Details Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Apple To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. or Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . Product details Publisher: Penguin; Re-issue edition (1 Mar. 2012) Language: English Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2 x 19.8 cm Average Customer Review: Product Description Review More than just a jolly romp with political undertones is the way it captures the peculiar flavour of Eastern European immigrant life . . . a very rich mixture indeed, as well as very enjoyable reading (The Times) A delightful first novel . . .

an understanding of history, a profundity, and yet a lightness of touch, that are a joy . . . funny, touching and completely convincing (The Spectator) From the Inside Flap "Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukranian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside." --This text refers to the Audio CD edition. By Lonya TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on 28 Mar. 2005 Format: Hardcover I picked up Marina Lewycka's "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" almost by accident. The title attracted my attention so I picked it up and began reading. After reading the first three sentences, I was sold. They are: "Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six.

She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside." The concern I have with books that begin so well is the difficulty the remainder has in living up to such promise. I am happy to report that Ukrainian Tractors lived up to the promise of its opening paragraph. The opening sentences sum up the story. Nikolai, his wife and two children Vera and Nadezhda (Nadia) were Ukrainian refugees who, at the conclusion of the Second World War make their way to Peterborough. Vera,born before the war, has memories of the family's travails in German work camps. She is the "war baby." Vera is the basic domineering know-it-all older sister. Nadia is the peace baby, a liberal sociology lecturer with a penchant for buying her clothes used at the local Oxfam. Nadia and Vera have not talked since their mother's funeral. Nikolai picks up he phone one day and announces to Nadia that he is about to take a new bride. Valentina is a young, buxom bottle-blonde Ukrainian whose U.K.

residency visa is about to expire. As expected, Vera and Nadia call a truce in order to prevent the marriage and protect their father from a fate they consider worse than death. Read more › Marina Lewycka : A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian : Book Review "A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian" (Reviewed by Guy Savage AUG 26, 2006) "Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside." Marina Lewycka’s delightful debut novel A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian explores the disastrous consequences that occur when an elderly widower living in the suburbs of Britain marries an exploitive Ukrainian woman. The book begins when middle-aged Nadezhda gets a phone call from her octogenarian father. He’s been widowed for two years, but still lives in the family’s former home.

His telephone call is to announce his impending marriage to a 36-year-old divorcee named Valentina who is currently in England on a tourist visa. While Nadezhda’s father explains the relationship as a means to allow Valentina to remain in England and to seek an education for her “extraordinarily gifted” son, it’s soon clear to Nadezhda that her father is enamored with Valentina. Described as a “cultured woman” by her aged fiance, Valentina is supposedly a pharmacist who discusses Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, but underneath these cerebral pursuits, there’s an undercurrent of sexual attraction—a facet of the relationship that Nadezhda shies away from. It’s not an easy matter for Nadezhda to accept her father’s “sexual awakening” or the fact that he’s “drooling over this painted Russian tart.” Nadezhda normally prides herself on her liberal views. A communist in her youth, she’s now happily married and is a professor. Nadezhda’s parents were Ukrainian immigrants who were both fortunate enough to escape Stalin’s purges, and part of the father’s desire to “save” Valentina is his overall desire to salvage anything Ukrainian.

He has long “harboured fantasies of rescuing destitute Ukrainians,” but these plans were cut short by his now-deceased wife’s practicality. While Nadezhda would like to give Valentina the moral benefit-of-the doubt, Vera, Nadezhda’s older sister, takes a more cynical, practical view of their father’s impending nuptials and acidly asserts that he’s “just mesmerized by her boobs.” But as much as Nadezhda tries to take a broad minded view towards her new stepmother, it’s impossible to ignore Valentina’s grasping outrageous demands. Valentina is a dreadful person, and she’s even more dreadful when contrasted to Nadezhda’s deceased, frugal mother—a woman who kept an immaculate house, and a splendid, productive garden. In contrast, Valentina is a slob whose pretensions to housekeeping extend to frozen food. Under her slovenly domestic dominion, the household disintegrates into chaos, and at one point Nadezhda discovers “a half eaten ham sandwich” wrapped in an abandoned pair of Valentina’s grubby knickers.

Valentina’s presence in the household stirs many memories, and both daughters remember some unpleasant facts about their father’s temperament that they’ve submerged into filial acceptance. But these resentments come rushing to the surface as crisis follows upon crisis. While Valentina, determined to plunge headlong into the excesses of capitalist culture, makes monstrous materialistic demands on the meager pension of “no-good meanie husband,” Nadezhda—and her sister—are forced to intervene. And with a “common enemy” the sisters finally discover a meeting ground on which they can repair their damaged relationship. A great deal of the dialogue spoken by Valentina is in broken English. As a general rule, any author should think twice before deciding to write in broken English. It’s terribly hard to maintain consistency, and it also presents a challenge for the reader. In this case, author Lewycka manages to carry off the awkwardness of the dialogue simply because she chooses to tell this tale with a light, humorous tone. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian is a delightfully entertaining read. However, the material tackles some tough subjects—aging, familial relationships, and the immigrant experience, while touching on the Russian revolution, Nestor Makhno and the devastation of the Ukraine.

On another level, the author also very successfully explores the idea that siblings within the same family can have remarkably different childhoods, and also recall widely different information from childhood. This novel could so easily have been written with a different tone—after all the subject matter is deadly serious. In another author’s hands, perhaps the novel would not be as successful. Lewycka’s style and tone ultimately celebrates the triumph of the human spirit over adversity—the enormous world shattering events—such as Stalin’s purges, and the smaller but still traumatic upheaval experienced by one little family when the Ukrainian blonde bombshell, Valentina moves in and takes over.

Amazon readers rating: 9780143036746: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - AbeBooks - Lewycka, Marina: 0143036742 A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian ISBN 10: 0143036742 ISBN 13: 9780143036746 Publisher: Penguin Books, 2006 About this title With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him. For their father’s intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title. From the Back Cover: "A charming comedy of eros... A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty." ï¿½Los Angeles Times "Lewycka is a writer with a fundamentally optimistic vision of the future and a healthy curiosity about the past." ï¿½Chicago Tribune ï¿½The Washington Post Book World About the Author: Marina Lewycka was born of Ukrainian parents in a refugee camp at the end of World War II and grew up in England. In the course of researching her family roots for this novel, she uncovered no fewer than three long-lost relatives. "About this title" may belong to another edition of this title. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® Meet the author Overview With this wise, tender, and deeply funny novel, Marina Lewycka takes her place alongside Zadie Smith and Monica Ali as a writer who can capture the unchanging verities of family. When an elderly and newly widowed Ukrainian immigrant announces his intention to remarry, his daughters must set aside their longtime feud to thwart him.

For their father’s intended is a voluptuous old-country gold digger with a proclivity for green satin underwear and an appetite for the good life of the West. As the hostilities mount and family secrets spill out, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian combines sex, bitchiness, wit, and genuine warmth in its celebration of the pleasure of growing old disgracefully. Advertising Editorial Reviews From the Publisher "A charming comedy of eros... A ride that, despite the bumps and curves in the road, never feels anything less than jaunty." —Los Angeles Times "Lewycka is a writer with a fundamentally optimistic vision of the future and a healthy curiosity about the past." —Chicago Tribune "Charming, poignantly funny." —The Washington Post Book World Susan Adams Nikolai Mayovskyj is an 84-year-old widower, newly in love with Valentina, 36, a bombshell from the old country. "She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade," writes his daughter Nadezhda, the narrator of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, the charming, poignantly funny first novel by Marina Lewycka, a daughter of Ukrainian immigrants.

 The Washington Post Publishers Weekly The premise of Lewycka's debut novel is classic Viagra comedy: a middle-aged professor's aging and widowed father announces he intends to marry a blonde, big-breasted 30-something woman he has met at the local Ukrainian Social Club in the English town where he lives, north of London. It is clear to Nadezhda and her sister, Vera, that the femme fatale Valentina is only after Western luxuries-certainly not genuine love of any kind. Smitten with the ambitious hussy, their father forges ahead to help Valentina settle in England, spending what little pension he has buying her cars and household appliances and even financing her cosmetic surgery. In the meantime, Nadezhda, a socialist, and Vera, a proud capitalist, confront the longstanding ill will between them as they try to save their father from his folly. Predictable and sometimes repetitive hilarity ensues. But then Lewycka's comic narrative changes tone. Nadezhda, who has never known much about her parents' history, pieces it together with her sister and learns that there is more to her cartoonish father than she once believed.

"I had thought this story was going to be a knockabout farce, but now I see it is developing into a knockabout tragedy," Nadezhda says at one point, and though she is referring to Valentina, she might also be describing this unusual and poignant novel. Agent, Bill Hamilton. (Mar. 7) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Kirkus Reviews Ancient widower weds gold digger; daughters intervene; goodbye, gold digger. The old man who makes a fool of himself over a younger woman is a staple of the human comedy, and, in Lewycka's first novel, the old man lives in England, an immigrant from Ukraine like the author herself. Kolya Mayovskyj is an octogenarian, a retired engineer with a love of poetry, philosophy and tractors. His wife, Ludmilla, has been dead two years when he meets another Ukrainian, 36-year-old Valentina, and is enchanted by her winning ways and massive boobs. Valentina needs the right papers for herself and her teenaged son Stanislav, and as much of Kolya's money as she can get her hands on.

The story is narrated by Nadia, one of Kolya's two daughters, a university lecturer with an English husband and child, though we learn little about them. The focus is on her father, the book he's writing (see title), his past in the old country, and her relationship with her sister Vera, ten years older. The sisters haven't spoken since a disagreement over their mother's will, but the common enemy Valentina draws them back together. Their rapprochement is strengthened once Nadia learns their family's darkest secret (the fight for survival, before she was born, in a German labor camp). Now the sisters contact lawyers and immigration authorities. Their father's marriage soon turns sour, and the frail Kolya's adoration of Valentina turns to fear as the promiscuous predator physically abuses him. Not that Kolya is unduly sympathetic himself, as flashbacks show him responsible for his mother-in-law's death back in Ukraine. He eventually agrees to a divorce, and another go-round of hearings and appeals yields little drama orcomedy, even with the extra fillip of Valentina's pregnancy (Kolya decidedly not the father).

The deus ex machina is Valentina's former husband, newly arrived from Ukraine. Not enough here to reinvigorate an old, old story. Read an Excerpt 1. Two phone calls and a funeral Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blonde Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface a sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside. It all started with a phone call. My father’s voice, quavery with excitement, crackles down the line. “Good news, Nadezhda. I’m getting married!” I remember the rush of blood to my head. Please let it be a joke! Oh, he’s gone bonkers! Oh, you foolish old man! But I don’t say any of those things. “Oh, that’s nice, Pappa,” I say. “Yes, yes. She is coming with her son from Ukraina. Ternopiol in Ukraina.” Ukraina: he sighs, breathing in the remembered scent of mown hay and cherry blossom.

But I catch the distinct synthetic whiff of New Russia. Her name is Valentina, he tells me. But she is more like Venus. “Botticelli’s Venus rising from waves. Golden hair. Charming eyes. Superior breasts. When you see her you will understand.” The grown-up me is indulgent. How sweet—this last late flowering of love. The daughter me is outraged. The traitor! The randy old beast! And our mother barely two years dead. I am angry and curious. I can’t wait to see her—this woman who is usurping my mother. “She sounds gorgeous. When can I meet her?” “After marriage you can meet.” “I think it might be better if we could meet her first, don’t you?” “Why you want to meet? You not marrying her.” (He knows something’s not quite right, but he thinks he can get away with it.) “But Pappa, have you really thought this through? It seems very sudden. I mean, she must be a lot younger than you.” I modulate my voice carefully, to conceal any signs of disapproval, like a worldly-wise adult dealing with a love struck adolescent. “Thirty-six.

She’s thirty-six and I’m eighty four. So what?” (He pronounces it ‘vat.’) There is a snap in his voice. He has anticipated this question. “Well, it’s quite an age difference...” “Nadezhda, I never thought you would be so bourgeois.” (He puts the emphasis on the last syllable - wah!) “No, no.” He has me on the defensive. “It’s just that…;there could be problems.” There will be no problems, says Pappa. He has anticipated all problems. He has known her for three months.

Question: Complete the title of the debut novel by Marina Lewycka 'A Short History of.in Ukrainian'.
Answer: TRACTORS